atmospheric setting
— During Ireland's potato famine, a boy struggles to support his family after his sister Molly dies of tuberculosis, eventually escaping to America.
— In drought-stricken Africa, a girl's beloved zebra friend is sacrificed to save her dying mother, then the rains finally come.
— A twelve-year-old slips outside at night to lie in wet grass, listening to her watch tick and feeling the wind carry away time's demands.
— A girl arrives home from school to an empty house and contemplates how the world continues moving while she stands still in her quiet kitchen.
— A lonely girl who plays harp privately joins a youth symphony at her mother's urging and meets a potential friend who offers to help her.
— A girl hangs laundry on a summer day, watching a monarch butterfly and mourning dove while sunlight transforms ordinary towels into an artist's palette.
— A newspaper delivery boy wrestles with his conscience on a brutally cold morning, ultimately choosing duty over comfort after reading about Andrew Carnegie.
— A girl moves from Chicago to India during monsoon season, experiences two different schools, then relocates to California, carrying memories of both homes.
— A young Egyptian girl yearns to help build Pharaoh Cheops' pyramid while managing household duties and missing her parents, who return unexpectedly at story's end.
— A girl savors her last day at a beloved Massachusetts beach before moving away, swimming in cold waves and watching sunset with her younger brother.